FCAD Showcase: Celebrating creations outside the confines of academia

The great thing about post-secondary education is that you’re given the chance to choose a program based on what you’re passionate about. However, the initial passion you once had can easily be drowned out by academics, assignments, and maintaining a good GPA. A group of Radio and Television Arts students have decided to rekindle that passion and bring students of the Faculty of Communication and Design closer together with this year’s FCAD Transmedia Showcase.

First-year RTA student Richard Marshall first felt the need for a creative platform after hearing about RTA’s TARA Awards. Initially, Marshall wanted to submit a project he’d been working on, but it didn’t qualify because it was a non-academic project.

Instead of stopping there, Marshall took action, formed a team and organized the showcase, providing FCAD students with the opportunity to collaborate and exhibit their creative works. The show aims to “celebrate your creativity” by allowing FCAD students to create without the restrictions of academia.

Hung Le, a first-year RTA student, is the head of promo for the showcase. Le said that the technical aspects of his program often leave him feeling “creatively clamped.”

“You don’t really get the chance to make your own scripts, storyboards. We’re kind of given a script and storyboard and we do whatever we want with it for our assignments,” said Le. “To me, that’s not really the point of RTA. Of course, technical aspects are important, but at the same time, exploring creativity, bringing what you want to life is part of the experience.”

The FCAD Transmedia Showcase also allows students to network. Marshall reached out to Trey Robinson from RUTV, who wholeheartedly supported his ideas and began promoting the showcase. Robinson provided facilities which were only available to second-year RTA students, like multi-track rooms.

“To see first-years already grabbing life by the reins and doing such a great thing like the showcase is a great sight to see,” said Robinson.

The showcase team also received positive feedback from the FCAD community, including the Ryerson Communication and Design Society and course unions.

“There’s been a lot of great reception to this because the main thing that we’re trying to do with this showcase is break a lot of barriers we were realizing in FCAD,” said Marshall.

Although the showcase is a bold move, especially for first-years, Marshall is calm and confident in what he and his team have been working on. He’s open to mistakes because it will only mean that next year’s showcase will be better.

“The main thing is not to be afraid of taking risks and to really follow your gut and believe in your ideas,” said Marshall. “More importantly, there are so many resources that we have at our disposal. You’re in university and paying thousands of dollars a year, so you might as well take advantage of every single resource.”

The FCAD showcase takes place April 14 in LIB072 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.